


Underlying Endearment

by Exotica, OmbreSuit



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Age Difference, Awkwardness, Bad Puns, Comfort Sex, Confessions, Drunken Confessions, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Eventual Smut, Feels, Fluff, Gay, Humor, M/M, Partying, Romance, S.T.A.R. Labs, Slow Build, Two Endings
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-31
Updated: 2016-06-03
Packaged: 2018-07-11 08:46:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,592
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7041340
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Exotica/pseuds/Exotica, https://archiveofourown.org/users/OmbreSuit/pseuds/OmbreSuit
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Embarking on his journey to party 'til the sun comes up, Cisco Ramon realizes that his plans for the night might head south after all his party people aren't in the mood for partying. Turning to his only option, Cisco heads to S.T.A.R Labs to keep him occupied. There, waiting for him, was a mystery man working in the shadows.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Good Evening

Francisco Ramon inhaled the crisp, fresh winter air of November. It was a Saturday night, and he had just taken his first step out of his apartment building, ready to spend his weekend partying with his lab buddies. The sidewalk was covered in a shimmering blanket of white as he pulled out his phone, dialing his most recent contact: Barry. 

Cisco positioned his cell phone against his ear and listened to the dial tone drone on until it abruptly stopped after about four or five rings. 

“Yo, Barry! What up, dude? Wanna go clubbin’ toni-” 

“Hey! This is Barry. I’m not really here right now, so if you’d leave a message I’ll get back to you in a _flash._ Thanks!” A little chuckle emits through the speaker before the voicemail ends. 

“Ugh, figures,” Cisco sighed. 

_I wonder what he’s up to. Probably with Joe and Iris, maybe even hot babe, _or_ he’s probably just ignoring me. _

Shrugging off his futile attempt, Cisco made his way to the nearest club in walking distance, _Club Ragdoll._ He hadn’t gone to this particular pub for a long time, but he was willing to take a chance for one night. As he made his way down the street, he could feel the vibrations of the throbbing bass, emanating from the club. The people inside screamed and cheered as the DJ sputtered and remixed some of the latest hits. 

He sighed. _Sounds like fun._ “Alright, alright. Who else?” Cisco mumbled to himself. 

Cisco peered at the large phone that nestled itself into his hand, flicking his thumb through the list of contacts he had. He skimmed through familiar names that brought painful memories as they flashed in his head one by one. _Ronnie Raymond, Professor Stein, Jay Garrick, Harrison Wells, Eddie Thawne, and even Lisa Snart._ Cisco sighed, feeling his mood dampen by the second. _I should really clean out my contact list._

“Agh! I’m not done yet!” Cisco exclaimed, raising his fist to his chest. People walking on the sidewalk, turned their heads to look at the commotion. “How about contestant number two: Caitlin?” 

As with Barry’s call, he anxiously waited for the dial tone to stop ringing. Finally, the ring cut off in its mid-point, Cisco beamed, his heart pumping with adrenaline. 

“Hey Cait! Feel like doing some late night clubbin’?” He suggested, raising his eyebrow. 

“Hey Cisco,” Caitlin sighed on the other side of the phone. 

“Hey.. Caitlin..?” Cisco pursed his lips, beginning to realize Caitlin did not share in his clubbing sentiments. 

A short silence lingered between them. 

“What’s wron-” 

“My life is so messed up Cisco, Ronnie an-and then Jay and then _Zoom?_ What else could be worse? Lately I’ve been so stressed that sometimes I can’t even do my job right. I-It _really sucks,_ Cisco.” She sharply inhaled, her stuffy nose muffling the noise.

“Hey, hey, Caitlin. Are you alright?” His eyes widened at the abrupt rambling. Cisco’s eyebrows furrowed together, he nervously pulled at the neckline of his _Rick and Morty_ t-shirt. “Are you _drunk_?” 

“Yeah, Cisco. I am! Ain’t that surprisin’?” Caitlin slurred. “Uh..H-Hey! Didn’t you say something about wanting to go clubbing? I’m totally down, I’ll be there in about, 10 minutes.” On the other side of the phone, Cisco could hear clattering of items and the jingle of car keys. 

“Woah! Hey, now. I think you’ve had a little too much to drink. What I said was,” Cisco paused for a brief second, trying to find a quick excuse, “uh, _studying_ not clubbing!” 

“Oh! I don’t really want to study right now Cisco, I’m sorry,” Caitlin apologized, feeling a little more guilty than she should've been responsible for. 

“I-It’s alright," Cisco nervously chuckled. "Maybe another time? I’ll see you tomorrow morning!” 

“Mm, okaaay. Night Cisco,” Caitlin cooed. 

Cisco tapped the red _End Call_ button and heaved a heavy sigh. _Y’know, I might as well be at work now. Well, I guess I don’t have anything better to do._

Adjusting his black blazer, Francisco Ramon trudged towards S.T.A.R Labs, the sliver of his hopes for partying completely diminished. The snow started to fall, gradually piling on the unpaved side of the road. Microscopic snowflakes danced their way in the wind, Cisco reflexively stuck his tongue out, attempting to capture and taste one or two pieces. The icy winter breeze brushed passed him, and he instinctively shielded his hands from the cold, shoving his hands into his pockets. He carried on as the dark, large, building of S.T.A.R Labs came into view. 

“Ahh. Here I am, at work, on a Saturday evening,” he exhaled, opening the door into the lobby. _Huh, the lights are still on, weird._ Cisco pressed his finger into the lining of the arrow pointing downwards. The metallic doors immediately opened and Cisco stepped inside. 

As the shaft took its time making its way to the basement level of the laboratories, Cisco hummed to the familiar beat that squawked through the radio. He could vaguely recognize a song from a 70's musical he watched over and over when he was younger. Before he knew it, the elevator dinged and the doors slid open. Stepping a worn sneaker on the cold tile, Cisco headed towards his usual work space that branched from the main lab. 

Cisco paced to his own office, distracted from the phone that was still nestled in his hand. _Man, I need more friends,_ Cisco thought as he repeatedly scrolled through his short list of contacts. As he entered the room, he flicked his gaze upwards for a split second. Cisco made brief eye contact with light blue eyes belonging to a man leaning against a desk in the back. A small lamp in the corner of the room illuminated the shadow of a scowl. 

“Woah!” Cisco jumped, stopping in his tracks to do a double take. 

“Good evening, Ramon.” 


	2. Confessions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cisco discovers Harrison in the darkness. With the silence eating away at him, Cisco decides to make conversation with Harry. But when the conversation goes south, how will Cisco handle it?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This picks up _right_ after chapter one so if you barely have any recollection of what happened, you might wanna reread the last chapter. Enjoy!

“Holy shit, Harry. Not cool! Don’t scare me like that.” Cisco fisted the patch of his shirt resting upon his erratically beating heart. He hesitantly reached for the light switch, immediately stopping in his tracks as soon as doing so. He contemplated his actions imagining a grumpy Harrison hissing and recoiling like a vampire as soon as light shed on him. 

“I didn’t mean to scare you, you just failed to observe your surroundings,” Harrison smirked, his arms folded in front of his chest.

“Uh, what are you doing here in the dark?” Cisco peered over Harrison’s shoulder, “Is Jessie with you?” he was quick to question, asking about all the points that seemed to be out of place.

“My _daughter_ , is currently sleeping at her friend's place for the weekend,” Harrison warily eyed Cisco as he pushed off the metallic desk. Turning, he leisurely strolled behind his whiteboard scattered with silver equations. “I’m working alone in the dark because that’s what I do best, _Ramon_. So, if you’d excuse me.” He uncapped an Expo pen and continued squiggling theorems.

“Oh, no, I get it. That’s cool, man.” Cisco shuffled to his desk and fumbled around with an unfinished project. “So..”

“You don’t have to force yourself to make conversation with me, Ramon.”

“My name isn’t Ramon,” Cisco furrowed his brows, turning to glare at Harry.

Harrison paused for a second, taking the time to roll his eyes. “Cisco Ramon,” he utters. He clears his throat and focuses back onto his board. “Happy?” Harrison shifts his pen from his face, lifting his brow coyly as he holds his gaze with Cisco. 

“Yes. I am,” Cisco said fatter-of-factly, folding his arms onto his chest. He leaned his bottom against the metal edge of his desk.

“I don’t see why it matters anyway,” Harrison sighed, shrugging.

“Because, Harry, I have a name and I’d like to be called properly.”

“I understand.”

Harrison returned his attention to the problem needing to be solved on his board. Time progressed, the two of them working in the silence of each other’s company. Harrison’s marker squeaked along the glass board as he wrote down mathematical and scientific problems. The metal clattered against the table, clinking and clanking in the noiseless atmosphere as Cisco busily tried to keep himself occupied with a new development of technology. At his desk, Cisco tried to piece together unfitting hunks of metal. The two of the scraps weren’t fitting together for some odd reason, Cisco became growingly agitated trying to search for the reason. _Why isn’t this working!?_ He thought, frustrated. Giving up, Cisco sighed, stopping in his tracks, the two titanium plates resting in his hands. On the other side of the room, Harrison didn’t take notice of Cisco’s irritation, as he was engaged in an intense brainstorm, his marker squeaking wildly across the board . Meanwhile, the younger man was restless, thoughts stirred throughout Cisco’s head. After what Caitlin had said earlier, his troubles and problems in his subconscious were constantly getting louder. To himself, he declared that a little venting would be necessary in order to get everything off of his chest, _if_ of course, Harry would be willing to listen. Clearing his throat, Cisco worked up the courage to start a conversation.

“Y’know, Harry, it took me a really long time to let my down guard around you like this.”

Unprepared, Harrison widened his eyes at the sudden appearance of such a heavy topic, “What do you mean?” He turned his attention to the frustrated man, capping his Expo pen and laying it to rest on the metallic tray. Harrison proceeded to run his hands through his tousled hair, he edged his glasses further down to pinch the bridge of his nose. After pushing his glasses back up with his index finger, he pulled up a chair behind himself, rolling beside Cisco, propping up an elbow on the desk.

“Well, I mean, you do look _exactly_ like _him_. Y’know this Earth’s Harrison Wells. Er- not Harrison Wells, really, but Eobard Thawne. You’ve kind of heard about him right? He.. He betrayed my friends, _and_ technically killed me. It was in another universe but I still experienced it and remember it, so it counts!”

“I get it, Ramon. I’m sure we've been over this, but you need to understand that I’m my own man,” Harry sighed, bringing a fist to his cheek.

A chill scattered throughout Cisco, like ice water running through his veins. “Wait. I know you’ve said something like this before, explain what you mean.”

“Well, Ramon, how about this? Even though you preach as if you’ve accepted me, I understand the way you think so, I know that isn’t true.”

“I-I,” Cisco was taken aback. He had an understanding of what Harrison was saying, but deep down he didn’t want to embrace the truth: he can’t get over Eobard Thawne even after all he did. A small realization rippled throughout his thoughts, Harrison had figured him out faster than he could figure himself out. 

“You call me Harry even though you’re so touchy about names,” Harry continued, “You insist that I call you Cisco even though you don’t abide by your own rules and call _me_ Harrison,” Harry flattened his palms onto the desk, pushing himself off the table to stand up. “Not that I care or anything, but it’s still a point,” Harry mumbled. His eyes raked over a man that’d just become aware of himself. Cisco’s eyes were large, staring down at nothing in particular. Concerned, Harrison knit his brows and cleared his throat in hopes to call Cisco back to attention. As his attempts proved futile, he stood awkwardly by Cisco. Harrison clapped a hand against his shoulder, jolting Cisco with reality. He jumped, startled from the unexpected strike, he whirled his head back to Harry.

“Everything alright?” 

“Yeah. Yeah, everything’s fine,” shrugged Cisco.

"Get this off your chest, Ramon.”

Cisco nodded. 

“Alright,” Harry patted Cisco’s metallic desk, offering a place to sit. He angled one side of his hip on the desk to face Cisco.

Pushing himself onto the surface, Cisco sat down, placing his hands in his lap.

“Tell me more about this _other_ Harrison Wells.”

“Well, you already know his actual name was Eobard Thawne, but he disguised himself as you, Earth one you.” 

“So I’ve heard,” Harry nodded.

“The whole team loved him and looked up to him. He was a great example, a seemingly perfect mentor,” Cisco trailed off, searching for words to explain Eobard. 

“Yes, Allen’s mentioned that a couple times.”

Cisco nodded. “He had a big effect on me and Caitlin, and eventually Barry. He was like another father figure I had in my life. I _trusted_ him with my life.”

Harrison hummed in attention, quietly listening to Cisco’s explanation.

“I _really_ looked up to him. I liked that he didn’t need a reason for things, he was confident in what he did and always had an answer to anything and everything. He even hired someone like me. Of course, I’m mechanically inclined but I’m sure that a lot of other companies wouldn’t hire someone that would wear _this_ to work.” Cisco apathetically chuckles, gesturing to his outfit, a t-shirt and jeans with a blazer thrown over his shoulders. “When I had found out that-that Harrison had betrayed us, some part of me wanted it to be a lie, a part of me didn’t want to accept it because I treasured him so much. So when I look at you, all these emotions flood back to me... you’re like a second chance.” Cisco’s eyes watered, tears filling the brim of his eyelids.

“Except I’m not,” Harrison stated, looking down at his shoes.

Cisco bobbed his head.

“I’m a completely different person, from this _Eobard Thawne_ character. Though I am more intelligent than most on my Earth, and I am precise in my ways...second-guesses are part of my nature. I could never be as confident in myself as your Wells. He was able to keep Central City safe, and help Barry understand his powers."

“I know,” Cisco sniffed. “It’s just that, well, the point is; he made a big impression on me. In a way, he replaced the small gap in me that my family left after I started living on my own. It always seemed like they liked my brother way more than me and it just left me.. vulnerable. He was family, like my second father. He gave me the confidence I needed and _I know_ that he felt the same because he told me right before he killed me!” Cisco raised his voice, tears tumbling out of his eyes. His feelings surpassed his logic, they eventually poured out of him one by one. “Well, he didn’t really kill me because I’m still here but technically..” Cisco inputted, sniffling and wiping his tears with the back of his hand.

“I’m sorry to disappoint you, Ramon, but I don’t see you that way.” Harrison guiltily looked to the side, his mind racing to find something that would cheer Cisco up.

“I didn’t expect you to,” Cisco murmured, his voice hoarse. He cupped his crimson face into his hands, embarrassed at the fact that he cried right in front of the calm and collected, Harrison Wells. 

“Come here,” wedging himself between Cisco’s legs, Harrison embraced the crying young man, wrapping his arms around him.

“Har-”

Harrison grasped Cisco’s head, shoving it into his shoulder. “It’s alright, please don’t make it more awkward than it already is,” Harrison sighed, trying his best to caress Cisco’s head.

“Thanks,” Cisco sighed, resting his weight onto Harrison.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys enjoyed. Now, this would be the last chapter _if_ I hadn't promised smut. But since there will be smut, it'll be included into the next chapter for those who like to get hot and heavy. If you don't like to get hot and heavy, this is the fluff ending just for you. Stay tuned, hope to see you next chapter! -Exotica

**Author's Note:**

> Hoped you liked my first post on AO3 :) There will be a continuation of this story so stay tuned! I know this was short but it's just a test post to see what it's like to write on this site. Honestly, I was super nervous to post, so please tell me what you think! I would be totally grateful for any type of feedback and I'll apply it to the next chapter of this story. This probably wont be SUPER long and probably wont have amazing character development; mostly because it's easier to read short installments instead of long installments. I kinda intend for it to be quick, but not too quick. Y'know what I'm sayin'? Thank you! -Exotica


End file.
